San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus spread and people isolated in their properties, a physician in San Diego boasted that he had his palms on a “miracle treatment,” in response to prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley said the drug was included in his coronavirus “therapy kits,” despite the treatment becoming increasingly scarce. But Staley had a way of getting it, he later instructed an undercover federal agent. He planned to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the assistance of a Chinese language provider, prosecutors stated.

Staley was sentenced last week to 30 days in prison and a year of home confinement for the scheme. He pleaded guilty last 12 months.

“On the height of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines were out there, this doctor sought to revenue from patients’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman said in a news launch. “He abused his position of trust and undermined the integrity of your complete medical profession.”

Staley’s legal professional did not immediately reply to requests for remark late Monday.

How false hope unfold about hydroxychloroquine to deal with covid-19 — and the consequences that adopted

Hydroxychloroquine is often prescribed to people with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to deal with malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, starting within the early days of the pandemic, as a “sport changer.” Trump’s endorsement precipitated demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and ultimately affecting those that needed it for non-covid well being problems. Research later discovered that hydroxychloroquine shouldn't be an efficient therapy for covid and did not prevent folks from changing into sick.

In keeping with prosecutors, federal agents started looking into Staley after involved prospects alerted the FBI to the advertising and marketing emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The business marketed “world-class beauty improvements at reasonably priced prices,” courtroom documents show, and offered companies together with Botox, fat transfer, hair removing and tattoo removal.

The covid therapy kit got here with a 30-day “concierge medical experience,” intravenous drips, entry to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an extra charge), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medicines, records show.

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of the emails and inquired in regards to the treatment equipment, investigators said. When Staley and the agent spoke on the phone soon after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “amazing remedy” that would keep someone immune from covid for not less than six weeks, in line with court records.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley stated to the undercover agent, court docket paperwork present. “It’s hard to believe, it’s virtually too good to be true. Nevertheless it’s a remarkable clinical phenomenon.”

He added that the virus “literally disappears in hours” after an individual takes the drug.

When asked by the agent whether the treatment was a “guaranteed” remedy for covid, Staley said yes but qualified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there are not any ensures in life,” courtroom records show.

In the course of the call, Staley also instructed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “bought the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” data show, and that he “tricked customs” by labeling the barrel as “sweet potato extract.” He added that the powder was sufficient to make 8,000 doses in gelatin capsules.

Staley later supplied the agent prescriptions for generic versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, regardless of never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors stated. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and 5 family members — for $4,000, in keeping with court paperwork.

A Florida man acquired thousands and thousands in coronavirus support. He used it to buy a Lamborghini, prosecutors say.

Staley was charged in mid-April 2020 and pleaded responsible in July 2021. As part of his plea settlement, Staley also admitted to posing as considered one of his staff to fill a prescription for hydroxychloroquine to then use it in his kits, prosecutors mentioned. And he agreed to accusations that he lied to federal agents during the investigation.

“Dr. Staley supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured treatment for COVID-19 to people gripped in concern throughout a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner said in a information release when Staley pleaded guilty. “In the present day, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a scam to make a quick buck.”

As part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 wonderful and to offer back the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s kit. He also needed to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical medicine, multiple luggage of empty pill capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

In keeping with information from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been temporarily suspended by a court order.